1.

THEODOLITE:

A theodolite is a versatile instrument basically designed to measure horizontal and vertical angles. It is also used
to give horizontal and vertical distances using stadia hairs. Magnetic bearing of lines can be measured by
attaching a trough compass to the theodolite. It is used for horizontal and vertical alignments and for many other
purposes.

A theodolite has three important lines or axes, namely the horizontal axis or trunion axis, the vertical axis, and
the line of collimation or the line of sight. It has one horizontal circle perpendicular to the vertical axis of the
instrument for measuring horizontal angles and one vertical circle perpendicular to the trunion axis for
measuring vertical angles. For leveling the instrument there is one plate level having its axis perpendicular to the
vertical axis. The instrument also has one telescope level having its axis parallel to the line of sight for
measuring vertical angles.

Fig 1 Different axis of theodolite & their relation

The three axes of a perfectly constructed and adjusted theodolite have certain geometrical requirements of
relationship between them as shown in Fig. 1. The line of collimation has to be perpendicular to the trunion axis
and their point of intersection has to lie on the vertical axis. The intersection of the horizontal axis, the vertical
axis and the line of collimation, is known as the instrumental centre. The line of sight coinciding with the line of
sight describes a vertical plane when the telescope is rotated about the trunion axis. The vertical axis defined by
plumb bob or optical plummet, has to be centered as accurately as possible over the station at which angles are
going to be measured.
 Fig 2
The main components of vernier theodolite

The main components of a typical theodolite are as follows:

(1) The trivet stage forming the base of the instrument connects it to the tripod head.

(2) The tribrach supports the rest of the instrument and with reference to the plate bubble can be levelled using
the footscrews which act against the fixed trivet stage.

(3) The lower plate carries the horizontal circle which is made of glass, with graduations from 0° to 360°
photographically etched around the perimeter.

(4) The upper plate carries the horizontal circle index and fits concentric with the lower plate.

(5) The plate bubble is attached to the upper plate and when centred (using the footscrews) establishes the
instrument axis vertical. Some modern digital or electronic theodolites have replaced the spirit bubble with an
electronic bubble.
(6) The upper plate also carries the standards which support the telescope by means of its transit axis. The
standards are tall enough to allow the telescope to be fully rotated about its transit axis.

(7) The vertical circle similar in construction to the horizontal circle is fixed to the telescope axis and rotates
with rotation of the telescope.

(8) The vertical circle index, against which the vertical angles are measured, is set normal to gravity by means of
(a) an altitude bubble attached to it, or (b) an automatic compensator. The latter method is now universally
employed in modern theodolites.

(9) The lower plate clamp enables the horizontal circle to be clamped into a fixed position. The lower plate slow
motion screw permits slow movement of the theodolite around its vertical axis, when the lower plate clamp is
clamped. Most modern theodolites have replaced the lower plate clamp and slow motion screw with a horizontal
circle-setting screw. This single screw rotates the horizontal circle to any reading required.

(10) Similarly, the upper plate clamp and slow motion screw have the same effect on the horizontal circle index.

(11) The telescope clamp and slow motion screw fix and allow fine movement of the telescope in the vertical
plane.

(12) The optical plummet, built into either the base of the instrument or the tribrach, enables the instrument to be
centred precisely over the survey point. The line of sight through the plummet is coincident with the vertical
axis of the instrument.

(13) The telescopes are similar to those of the optical level but usually shorter in length. They also possess
collimators for initial pointing.

Fig 3 Main components of a typical theodolite

2. TOTAL STATION

Total station instruments, combine three basic components— an electronic distance measuring (EDM)
instrument, an electronic angle measuring component, and a computer or microprocessor—into one integral
unit. These devices can automatically observe horizontal and vertical angles, as well as slope distances from a
single setup. From these data they can compute horizontal and vertical distance components instantaneously,
elevations and coordinates of points sighted, and display the results on a liquid crystal display (LCD). They can
also store the data, either on board or in external data collectors connected to their communication ports.

The telescope is an important part of a total station instrument. It is mounted between the instrument’s standards
(see Figure), and after the instrument has been leveled, it can be revolved (or “plunged”). The axis about which
the telescope revolves is called the horizontal axis. The telescope can also be rotated in any azimuth about a
vertical line called the vertical axis. Being able to both revolve and rotate the telescope in this manner makes it
possible for an operator to aim the telescope in any azimuth, and along any slope, to sight points. This is
essential in making angle observations.
The EDM instruments that are integrated into total station instruments, are relatively small, and are mounted
with the telescope between the standards of the instrument. Although the EDM instruments are small, they still
have distance ranges adequate for most work. Lengths up to about 4 km can be observed with a single prism,
and even farther with a triple prism.
Total station instruments are manufactured with two graduated circles, mounted in mutually perpendicular
planes. Prior to observing angles, the instrument is leveled so that its horizontal circle is oriented in a horizontal
plane, which automatically puts the vertical circle in a vertical plane. Horizontal and zenith (or altitude) angles
can then be observed directly in their respective planes of reference. To increase the precision of the final
horizontal angle, repeating instruments had two vertical axes. This resulted in two horizontal motion screws.
One set of motion screws allowed the instrument to be turned without changing the value on the horizontal
circle.

Most early versions of total station instruments employed level dials for orienting the circles in horizontal and
vertical planes, but many newer ones now use automatic compensators, or electronic tilt-sensing mechanisms.
The angle resolution of available total stations varies from as low as a half second for precise instruments
suitable for control surveys, up to for less expensive instruments made specifically for construction work.
Formats used for displaying angles also vary with different instruments. For example, the displays of some
actually show the degree, minute, and second symbols, but others use only a decimal point to separate the
number of degrees from the minutes and seconds. Thus, most instruments allow a choice of units, such as the
display of angular measurements in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

Distances may be shown in either feet or meters. Also, certain instruments enable the choice of displaying either
zenith or altitude angles. These choices are entered through the keyboard, and the microprocessor performs the
necessary conversions accordingly. The keyboard, used for instrument control and data entry, is located just
above the leveling head. Once the instrument has been set up and a sighting has been made through the
telescope, the time required to make and display an angle and distance reading is approximately 2 to 4 sec when
a total station instrument is being operated in the normal mode, and less than 0.5 sec when operated in the
tracking mode.

Robotic total stations have servomotors on both the horizontal and vertical axes that allow the instrument to
perform TRACKING FUNCTION. IT TRACKS a roving target without operator interaction. These instruments
are often used in construction layout. In fact, robotic total stations are required in machine control on a
construction. In machine control, the instrument guides a piece of construction equipment through the site
preparation process, informing the construction equipment operator of the equipment’s position on the job site
and the amount of soil that needs to be removed or added at its location to match the project design.

Functions of Total Station

Total station instruments, with their microprocessors, can perform a variety of functions and computations,
depending on how they are programmed. Most are capable of assisting an operator, step by step, through several
different types of basic surveying operations. After selecting the type of survey from a menu, prompts will
automatically appear on the display to guide the operator through each step. In addition to providing guidance to
the operator, microprocessors of total stations can perform many different types of computations. The
capabilities vary with different instruments, but some standard computations include

(1) averaging of multiple angle and distance observations

(2) correcting electronically observed distances for prism constants, atmospheric pressure, and temperature
(3) making curvature and refraction corrections to elevations determined by trigonometric leveling
(4) reducing slope distances to their horizontal and vertical components
(5) calculating point elevations from the vertical distance components (supplemented with keyboard input of
instrument and reflector heights)
(6) computing coordinates of surveyed points from horizontal angle and horizontal distance components
(supplemented with keyboard input of coordinates for the occupied station, and a reference azimuth.

Many total stations, but not all, are also capable of making corrections to observed horizontal and vertical angles
for various instrumental errors. For example, by going through a simple calibration process, the indexing error
of the vertical circle can be determined, stored in the microprocessor, and then a correction applied
automatically each time a vertical angle is observed. A similar calibration and correction procedure applies to
errors that exist in horizontal angles due to imperfections in the instrument

Parts of Total Station

Fig 3. Parts of a total station